In the past, fusing machines have been developed for fusing together a pair of wires. Generally, there are two basic types of fused connections: a pigtail connection and a splice connection.
In a pigtail connection, the wires are fed in the same direction and positioned between a pair of electrodes in piggyback fashion (i.e., one above the other) such that their free ends extend beyond a fusing station defined by the electrodes. After a fusing operation, the fused wires are removed from the fusing station and the excess wire is manually trimmed.
In making a splice connection, the wires are fed in opposite directions and positioned between a pair of electrodes such that their free ends overlap. After a fusing operation, the wires are removed from the fusing station defined by the electrodes, no trimming being necessary.
Various electrode configurations have been employed by these prior art fusing machines. For instance, one electrode set includes a first electrode which is provided with a relatively wide inwardly tapered slot having sidewalls which form between them an included angle of about 60.degree.. A second electrode has a tapered tip which is designed such that its taper substantially matches the taper of the slot in the first electrode. Because the slot in the first electrode is relatively wide it is difficult to maintain two wires in a piggyback arrangement in the slot because the wire located in the wider portion of the slot will tend to move laterally in the slot. Also, because the two electrodes have matching shapes, there is a tendency for strands of a stranded wire to become trapped between the sidewall of the slot in the first electrode and the tip of the second electrode. Any such trapped strands can be inadvertently fused to one of the electrodes.